A gold crown of goddess Kali at the Sri Sri Jeshoreshwari Temple in Satkhira's Shyamnagar, which was gifted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been stolen.
The incident was reported around 3pm on Thursday.
CCTV footage from the temple shows a young man entering at 2:49pm. He is seen standing behind the idol and, within moments, hiding the crown and concealing it under his T-shirt.
The man, wearing jeans and a white T-shirt, briefly glanced around before taking the crown but appeared calm and composed.
Locals said that the man seemed well-trained.
Temple priest, Dilip Banerjee said he locked the temple and went home after 2pm.
Around 2:30pm, Rekha Rani, who was in charge of temple maintenance, unlocked the entrance to clean the plates and glasses used for worship.
While putting some items in the nearby building, she returned to the temple to fetch the remaining items and noticed that the crown from the head of the idol was missing. She immediately informed everyone about the incident.
Regarding the matter, Shyamnagar police station Officer-in-Charge (Investigation), Fakir Taizur Rahman, said the superintendent of police and other senior officials arrived at the scene and began working to uncover the mystery.
He also confirmed that army officials had reached the location and initiated their own investigation.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi placed the crown on the idol’s head as a gift during his visit to the temple on February 27, 2021.
